PGMOL confirm that two officials involved in the VAR drama between Tottenham and Liverpool have been REPLACED for upcoming fixtures

• Luis Diaz had a goal ruled out but the PGMOL have admitted it should have stood
• PGMOL have now confirmed that two officials have been stood down as a result
• Mail Sport’s new WhatsApp Channel: Get the breaking news and exclusives here 

PGMOL have confirmed that the two VAR officials at the heart of the controversy between Tottenham and Liverpool have been replaced for upcoming fixtures.

On Saturday, Luis Diaz looked to have given his side the lead against Spurs before his goal in the first-half was controversially ruled out for offside following a VAR review.

It later emerged that the decision was a result of a miscommunication between the on-field officials and those on VAR.

Darren England was the man tasked with VAR duties for the match, with Dan Cook acting as assistant VAR.

In a statement, PGMOL have now said: ‘Darren England and Dan Cook have been replaced for the Nottingham Forest v Brentford and Fulham v Chelsea matches. 

PGMOL have confirmed that VAR official Darren England (left) and VAR assistant Dan Cook (right) will step down from their roles for upcoming fixtures

It comes after VAR ruled out a Liverpool goal against Tottenham, despite replays clearing showing Luis Diaz was being played onside by Cristian Romero

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‘Craig Pawson will now assume England’s duties as 4th official at City Ground while Eddie Smart will take over from Cook as assistant ref at Craven Cottage.’

Almost immediately after the match, PGMOL admitted that Diaz’s strike was incorrectly ruled out for offside and issued an apology to Liverpool.

‘PGMOL acknowledge a significant human error occurred during the first half of Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool,’ the statement began.

‘The goal but Luis Diaz was disallowed for offside by the on-field team of match officials. This was a clear and obvious factual error and should have resulted in the goal being awarded through VAR intervention, however, the VAR failed to intervene.

‘PGMOL will conduct a full review into the circumstances which led to the error.

‘PGMOL will immediately be contacting Liverpool at the conclusion of the fixture to acknowledge the error.’

The incident drew criticisms from fans, analysts and even managers – as Jurgen Klopp lashed out at the error during a post-match interview.

After hearing the statement, Klopp said: ‘Does that help? No. We had that situation at the Man United game (against Wolves last month) – did they get points for that? No. We will not get points for it today so it doesn’t help.

‘Nobody expects 100 per cent right decisions on field. I think we all thought when VAR came in, it might make things easier. I don’t know why people are acting under that much pressure. Today the decision was made really quickly for the goal. It changed the momentum of the game.’

Diaz appeared to beat the offside trap to convert before it was ruled out for offside

Replays showed that the decision was the wrong one, with PGMOL coming out after the match to issue a statement

The goal came about when Liverpool countered just moments after Jones was sent off. Mohamed Salah played through Diaz, who slotted home, but the goal was immediately flagged offside.

Replays seemed to show the forward was onside and that has now been confirmed by the refereeing body. 

Gary Neville slammed the decision on Sky Sports, saying: ‘We have the lines on the pitch. These groundspeople never get a line wrong. They are so accurate. Look at the lines on the pitch. 

‘I’ve defended VAR offsides as a matter of fact. There’s been a few I thought that’s not right. To me that one there… just no. It was all too quick. It was so quick. It wasn’t right. At the time I was like, OK let’s move on.

‘That is clearly Romero’s foot and Diaz’s shoulder. There’s only two players in shot. It’s almost now like what are they doing? They’re picking the wrong cameras to do the lines on… the wrong angles. It’s just weird! Something doesn’t feel right.’

Richard Keys also took issue with the VAR officials, as he Tweeted: ‘Why was Michael Oliver in UAE to ref Thursday’s game between Al Sharjah v Al Ain? Darren England assisted in VAR. 

‘Oliver wasn’t involved yesterday. He’s VAR today. Too tired? If so why wasn’t England stood down? Better still – stop this freelancing.’ 

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